The 13 Business Blogging Master Post Templates You Can Use, Part 13 – Inspirational

People love to be inspired.

The proof is in how much inspirational stories and videos are shared online through social media. Content which is inspirational has a longer shelf life than the funny viral hit of the month. Its traffic doesn’t die off as quickly as content which is funny or shocking or merely useful.

Inspirational content feeds something else: the human spirit. Makes sense, since both inspire and spirit derive from the Latin sp?r?re.

The beautiful thing about inspirational content is there is no shortage of it. It often comes disguised as anecdotes or legend. For example, it doesn’t take much reading about sales and customer service to run across the story of a salesperson who turned the unfortunate incident of an alteration coming late to get a customer to buy an extra shirt, pants, jacket and tie while he waited. That legendary story may not be inspirational to you, but if you’re in the customer service business or sales I guarantee you it’s inspirational, because it shows how anything negative can turned into an advantage with the right mindset and a bit of confidence.

Two Types of Inspiration

When you think of something inspiring, what comes to mind? Probably stories about people beating incredible odds or living as best they can with some terrible disadvantage most of us couldn’t even imagine. And that’s true, those kinds of stories are inspirational. But how do you make them work for you?

Seems to me there are two types of inspirational stories:

• Direct
• Comparative

The Direct Inspirational Story

In a direct inspirational story, the people and the actions are meant as a direct example. The story of a quadriplegic  overcoming odds to live a normal life is not a direct inspiration to a retail salesperson, but the story of the guy  who cross-sells the customer waiting for his alterations is.

The direct inspirational story comes from the same industry you’re in, and was originally experienced by someone who does what you do. It’s directly applicable as an example. It’s a role model. It’s also harder to work with because it’s likely there are fewer good examples to use, and you can’t just keep trotting out the same old ones every time.

The Comparative Inspirational Story

In a comparative inspirational story, you’re comparing one person’s situation to another. You’re sending the message: if this person can overcome obstacles to succeed, you can, too. Or, compared to this person, your problems are nothing–quit complaining and be grateful for what you have.

Comparative inspirational stories come to us all the time from the world of sports and are applied to business because in both cases people are striving against competition to win. Same thing with war analogies. On a different side altogether, a story about getting through a difficult family situation and maintaining relationships can also inspire a team having troubles getting along (it’s not always about sports and fighting).

Apples, Oranges and Video

Since when it comes to comparative inspirational stories, we’re talking apples and oranges anyway, let’s talk about media. I believe using different media for each side of the comparison can make your point even more dramatic and inspiring. Specifically, using video to show an inspiring story and then text to compare it to whatever situation you’re talking about.

For example, check out this video:

I don’t play football. I don’t give the slightest shit about football. But you’d have to dead inside to not feel inspired by that video. You can apply the lesson and the inspiration from that video to any situation where you want to inspire people to give their best and go the extra… yard (had to do it).

Inspirational Speech

While there may be two kinds of inspirational stories, there will always be the inspirational speech. A speech doesn’t always have to be a speech. It can be written. For all his marketing knowledge, I find Seth Godin’s blog posts to often be inspiring. I feel called and inspired to deliver a better experience by what Godin says and how he says it.

You don’t have to speak like Martin Luther King, Jr. to inspire others. You don’t have to shout like Aragorn before the final battle in Lord of the Rings, rallying the troops. But you can inspire through the written word. Some people don’t like to call it persuasion, or, worse yet, marketing. But they like just fine the idea of inspiring (just don’t tell ‘em it’s really all the same thing–it will be our little secret).

Who are You?

You may be wondering, who am I to write something inspiring or be inspirational?

You’re the person with the blog other people are reading and learning from, that’s who. You’re already inspiring them. To what degree is up to you to decide.